As someone who has been around accident-prone children their whole life, when Freckles offered me the chance to attend a paediatric first aid course, I jumped at the chance! I’m also currently working part-time in a tearoom and have witnessed little ones running into tables full of teapots, so for me, being clued up on what to do in an emergency was important. That, and the fact I’d burnt myself baking scones only the day before!

A bit about our first aid instructor

Our First Aid instructor Bev is a fully certified and hugely experienced individual. The fact that she had not only been a Paediatric Nurse, but also dealt with emergency calls meant she really understood how to stay calm under pressure and remain pragmatic when people may be panicking around you.

It was really interesting to hear some of her experiences throughout the day as it enabled us to be able to understand in a real-life situation how techniques we learnt could be applied and the techniques themselves were brilliantly explained and demonstrated by both Bev and by clear and realistic video clips.

What we learned throughout the day

We worked in pairs to practice CPR techniques and choking prevention on resuscitation dolls (baby, child and adult versions). Learning to apply those skills onto the mannequins really helped because Bev gave feedback on how much pressure to apply and the speed at which we were doing things.

During the six hours we also learnt; how to identify signs of Meningitis, Anaphylactic shock, Asthma, high and low blood sugar in Diabetics, what to do in case of someone having an Epileptic fit, how to deal with burns, Wounds and bandaging and a lot more.

Tailoring the training

Bev also asked us whether the families and children we work with have specific medical needs and was able to tailor the content to accommodate that. She was also happy to answer the questions we had for her and we were able to discuss our own experiences of emergency situations.

Feeling first aid confident

At the end of the day, I felt confident that I could demonstrate the skills I had learnt throughout the course and I also now have the certificate to back that up! It’s important both for you and for the parents of children you may look after that you know paediatric first aid; although we hope accidents won’t happen, unfortunately they do and being able to deal with a situation calmly and professionally could mean you prevent a situation from being a lot worse!

Thank you again to Bev, who was really terrific, and to the Kayas who attended with me for asking questions I hadn’t even thought of. It was a great day and I highly recommend it to other Kayas and everyone!